Get governance in focus

The newly elected Minster for Tourism and brother of Chief Minister, Tasaduq Mufti in his recent maiden speech in Legislative assembly said that “he wasn’t a politician but a filmmaker who had come to assembly to learn more about State politics.” He is believed to be a man with high aesthetic sense and a concern for heritage of the Himalayan State of Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Young Mufti is an established cinematographer of international repute, however what remains to be seen is how he will perform as a minister. When we don’t have good governance around, all the lights are on him. With the reshuffle in PDP camp, people that hoping that there will be some change on the ground. However the slogan of good governance seems far from reality. Good governance is becoming an unachievable goal for the government – the situation is akin to what has been faced by previous governments – with vivid display of the pitiable accountability record. The newly inducted minister for Tourism and brother of Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mifti, Tasaduq Hussain Mufti has to prove himself as a minister and someone who can bring PDP out of sleeping mode. While the present coalition government under governance reforms (in AoA) had expressed its view as “It shall be the mission of the coalition government to be the most ethical state in the country from the present day position of being the most corrupt state,” how many notches up or down the state has moved in the list of corrupt states calls for a debate. It is a fact that the government took a bold step to axe the ‘deadwood’ that had been piling for years. Lists of corrupt officials were prepared, some action was taken but the fervor gradually fizzed out without yielding anything. When the government incorporated its good governance lines in agenda document it emphasized the then position of the state ‘the most corrupt state’. But today, does it have anything to say on how it pursued corruption cases to change the state’s position? Besides graft allegations against tainted officials and lack of accountability, the government now seems to be caught between the devil and the deep sea as allegations of harassment and misconduct of officials have also come to light. disregard to rules and conduct shown by officials. There are allegations on tainted officials being shown an exit door and brought back through a backdoor. During the term of the previous government, the issue of granting service extension to favorite officials remained under spotlight for a long time.